Reservations for high-tech offices

Technology.

It's one of the biggest factors changing the workplace.

And the office of tomorrow will have plenty of high-tech gizmos.

Already making their debut: desktop conferencing, flat-screen computer monitors, and electronic whiteboards that can convert scribbling to e-mail.

Callaway Golf Co., headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif., gives all 350 employees at its new golf-ball facility cordless phones.

"Over the years, technology has moved up substantially in terms of importance - particularly to our younger people," says Dick Poladian, a partner at Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles.

In fact the accounting firm will spend more on technology this fiscal year than it will on space.

Its newest high-tech purchase assigns employees to workspace as they need it.

When they're not traveling, they log onto the "3V Enterprise Resources Reservation System." Dubbed "HOST," it's available at computer monitors on each floor or via laptops.

HOST finds available workspace - employees call the process "hoteling" - and reserves it in the employee's name. It even transfers phone calls to the temporary phone extension sitting atop the temporary desk.

And when such high-tech hosting starts to seem hostile, some companies give workers a break from the world of instant communication.

They're creating creativity closets - where it's just you, a recliner, and your thoughts.